


When the Road Gets Rough

by alkalinePessimist



Series: Johndavekat week [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, M/M, Polyamory, SO GAY, The johndavekat tag needs more, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, this is gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-16 19:20:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9286223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alkalinePessimist/pseuds/alkalinePessimist
Summary: The three of you were in Dave's pickup truck, on your way to Jade’s birthday party she was throwing for her dog, Bec.Dave had been turned in the driver's seat, looking past John at you, wiggling his pale as hell eyebrows over his shades, mid-innuendo when suddenly-You don't remember.





	1. The Crash

**Author's Note:**

> Tuesday: Hurt/Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lovely day turns into a horrible one.

Why is this happening? …...What is happening…? Where are you again?

 

_The three of you were in Dave's pickup truck, on your way to Jade’s birthday party she was throwing for her dog, Bec._

 

Your ears are ringing, your neck is sore, and your head is pounding. There's something blocking your sight in your right eye.

 

_Dave had been turned in the driver's seat, looking past John at you, wiggling his pale as hell eyebrows over his shades, mid-innuendo when suddenly-_

 

The world seems tilted, and you realize that,oh, it's because you're still buckled in the front seat of Dave's truck, and the truck is on it's side.

 

_There's the sound of a blaring horn, and Dave's head jerks back up, but it's too late, the other car coming at you headfirst in your lane is already on you, and you hear the crunch and shriek of metal clashing together as the two vehicles collide._

 

Dave…. John…. You look to your left, and you see, Dave, hanging limply in the driver's seat, facing the window away from you, dammit, you can't tell if he's okay-

 

Shit, where's John?!? He's not in between you two anymore….. you turn your head forward carefully…..oh God.

 

You close your eyes, hoping to block out the image of John's body halfway through the windshield, but it's burned into your eyelids. You choke out a sob, and you look down at yourself. You try to shift but when you move your leg a piercing agonizing pain runs through your whole body, and is all you can do to hold back a scream. You try moving your arms instead, fumbling for your seatbelt weakly. There's black clouding the edges of your vision now, and tears are fighting their way out from under your eyelids, spilling uncontrollably down your cheeks. Your arms fall back down, your energy spent. Your body sags, and the last thing you see is flashing lights before the darkness descends.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

You groan.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

You fling your arm out, trying to turn off your stupid alarm before Kankri comes barging in, but something tugs on your hand. You furrow your eyebrows and move it again, only for the tugging to happen again in your hand, and also in your forehead.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

You grumble and shift your weight, and there's a sharp pain that shoots up your leg, making you hiss out in pain. Abruptly, you force your eyes open, only to be met with sterile white walls that are most definitely not your bedroom.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

Your face still scrunched in pain, you take a look at your surroundings. Standard crappy furniture, plain curtains framing the window...a heart monitor...and a swivel table mounted next to your...hospital bed. Oh God, you're in the hospital….that's right. The crash.

 

You look down at yourself: IV drip in your hand, sterile white hospital gown clashing with your naturally brown skin, and a lump under the covers where your foot is. You shift the blankets, revealing swollen purple toes peeking out of a cast that goes up to your knee. You grimace. _Well then, looks like Dave will finally get to play with one of those scooter things. Wait, Dave….Where is he?!?!_  You startle, _Where is John?!? Last you saw them_ , the gruesome image pops into your head, _God they could be dead!_ You run your fingers through your hair at the base of your scalp and pull, your breathing increases. _Fuck fuck fuck, what do I do???_

 

Then you realize, there's a little call button on that remote thing so a nurse can come to you. You frantically look around for the object, finding it on the swivel table, and snatched it up, pressing the button repeatedly.

 

You don't even have to wait 30 seconds before a nurse comes rushing in. “Mr. Vantas?” he asks. You're still clutching the remote.

 

“Yes.” You reply. “Where is Dave? And John?” Your voice is getting progressively louder. “The other two who were in the truck with me? Are they-”

 

“Hey, hey, it's okay, they're here.” The nurse soothes. “Dave is in the waiting room, he woke up late last night and was discharged this morning. He only needed some stitches and to be watched overnight for his concussion.” He pauses, then, “Would to like to see him?” You nod your head a little too hard, and the world starts spinning. You put your hand to your forehead, only to realize there's a bandage over your eyebrow there. “Woah there, take it easy. Your friend isn't the only one who came out of it with a concussion, you know.” His steadying hand is placed on your shoulder, and if you could think straight, you'd be correcting him on his ‘friend’ statement, you'd be asking about John, but before you can clear your head, he pats your shoulder, gives you a smile, and tells you he'll be right back with Dave.

 

You take a few deeper breaths, trying to calm down, and you close your eyes again, putting your head into your hands and rubbing it. You try to think of anything else besides the sound of metal clashing and tires squealing, but you fail.

 

The door opens again after a few minutes, pulling you out of reliving the crash for the twentieth time, and you lift your head back up, breath catching.

 

Dave rolls into view, (literally rolls, you cannot fucking believe his stupid heelys survived that god forsaken crash, for fucks sake-) and you immediately smile upon seeing him. His arm may be in a sling, and he may have some stitches running down his throat over his collarbone and down under his shirt, but he smiles at you and he looks just as wonderful as ever. He wheels (fucking wheels) over to you, sits down on the edge of your bed, and pulls you in for a one-armed hug.

 

“Jesus, Karkat, “ he mumbles into your hair. “I'm so glad you're okay.” He pulls back a little bit. “Well, not OKAY okay, but-”

 

You put a hand over his mouth. “I'm glad you're okay too you dipshit.” You say fondly. You can feel him smile under your hand, and you remove it to peck him on the lips, then you pull him in for another hug.

 

“...Dave.” His arms tighten around you.

 

“What's up, Kat?” he sounds nervous, like he already knows what you're going to ask.

 

“Where's John?”

 

He hesitates.

 

“...Karkat, he's, uh well, he's alive, which is good. He's here in the hospital, resting.” He's still so damn tense, something is wrong.

 

“But?” You prompt.

 

“But, well,” His voice turns shaky. “They're not sure if he's gonna wake up or not, Kat.”

 

You stop breathing.

 

Then Dave buries his head into your shoulder and keeps going. “I haven't gone to see him yet, but Jade and Rose have been in his room as much as they can.” He's barely keeping himself together, comfort to you with his one good arm. “God I'm so sorry Kat, this is all my fault, I wasn’t watching the road, I-”

 

“Dave.” You suddenly find your voice. “It's not your damn fault okay?” He tries to protest but you grip him tighter. “No. Hey listen to me. You looked away from the road for two seconds, and when I looked back you know what I saw? Some dickhead swerving into OUR lane, not the other way around. If you had been looking at the road, you might’ve swerved into the ditch and rolled the car. It could have been way worse, all right?” He sniffles, and you feel wet tears on your shoulder but you don't comment. “Now, we'll talk to the doctors and see just how much chance there is he WILL wake up, and then we hold onto that, and we don't let go, okay?” He let's out a small sob and nods. “All right. Good.”

 

You keep holding him until his sniffles die down. “I'm still sorry about what happened, Karkat.” he mumbles to you.

 

You squeeze his good shoulder, “Hey, it's okay, I don't blame you. It was an accident. I love you, Dave. I want you to remember that, okay?” He looks at you with his puffy red eyes. (Damn, he must be pissed his shades got broken.)

 

He smiles at you, and says, “Love you too, Kat.”

 

There's a quick knocking at the door and then it opens, revealing the nurse and a woman in a white coat which you can only assume is the doctor that treated you.

 

“Hello Mr. Vantas. It's good to see you awake. I'm Doctor McLinn, how are you feeling?” She gives you a warm smile, her red hair spilling over her shoulders.

 

“Pretty worn out, actually.” You sigh, and you lean your head on Dave's shoulder. “I'm also wondering when I can get out of here?”

 

She laughs, “Well, you are stable, we just have to do a few final checks and then you should be all set to go home. Though,” her tone turns a little more serious. “I suppose you want to know how your friend is doing?”

 

You sit up and nod, and the nurse that came in with her bustles around you, taking your pulse, checking your temp, taking your IV out and a bunch of other shit you assume is necessary.

 

“Well, he's stable, for one. But he did take some heavy damage to his skull and chest, we had to remove a large shard from his chest actually, it had punctured a lung.” Your heart drops, and it must show on your face, because she hurriedly explains, “We were able to patch it up, however, and reinflate it, his breathing is currently being regulated, and he's still sleeping. We estimate he'll wake up in a couple days, but head injuries are tricky, and I'll be honest with you, there are some instances the patient doesn't wake up. It is a very low chance in this case, but I just wanted you to be aware.”

 

You take a shaky breath. “Thank you. Will I be able to visit him?” Dave starts rubbing circles into your shoulder, and you relax just a bit.

 

“As soon as you're discharged, you're free to visit him.” The doctor nods. “But I do recommend it to be a short visit. You do still have a few injuries yourself, you know.”

 

You swallow. “Thank you.”

 

“Of course, dear.” The nurse finishes writing whatever he needs to on his clipboard and hands it to her. She looks at it and looks back up to you. “Looks like you're good to go. I'll be seeing you in a few weeks to check on the fracture, and to take the stitches out, okay?”

 

“Yes ma'am.” You reply, already sitting up.

 

“Good. Have a good day, Mr. Vantas, Mr. Strider.” She motions to the nurse and they both leave.

 

You sigh and look at Dave.

 

He looks back at you.

 

“Well, get my pants for me, I'm not walking out of here dressed like this!” You push his shoulder and he chuckles.

 

“But you got such a cute butt Karkat.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Dave.”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

You wheel yourself up to John's room after you sign your papers, Dave trailing behind you. You stop for a second, out of breath. He puts a hand on your shoulder. “You okay Kat?”

 

“Yeah, I'm fine.” You square your shoulders. “Let's do this.” Dave opens the door for you, and you roll in. Jade and Rose are on either side of the bed, Jade holding John's hand, and Rose reading The Hobbit out loud. They both look up when you enter, wearing almost identical looks of relief on their faces.

 

Jade bounces up, coming over to you with a squeal of “Karkat!!!” pulling you into a hug. “I'm so glad you're okay!!”

 

“Yeah, me too Harley.” You grin, hugging her back.

 

“How are you feeling, Karkat?” Rose asks, closing her book.

 

“Like I got hit by a car.” You deadpan. Dave flinches next to you and you immediately feel bad. “I mean, uh. I'm feeling fine considering, y’know.”

 

Rose gives you a look of understanding, and nods. “I'm glad to hear it. Would you two like to be alone with him?”

 

“Yeah, if you don't mind.” You admit, a bit sheepishly.

 

“Okay!” Jade exclaims, we'll be waiting outside for you guys!” She walks over to the door, gilding it open for Rose, then shuts it behind them.

 

You look at Dave. “I'm sorry, it was way too soon to be joking about it,I didn't even think-”

 

“Don't worry about it, Karkat.” Dave smiles softly at you. “It's okay, just, maybe don't do it again?”

 

“You got it.” You turn to John and study him.

 

He looks like a mess.

 

You wheel closer, and reach out to take his hand, the other one still clutching the handlebar of your scooter to keep balance. He's got a few bandages obscuring his face a little, wrapping around the back of his head too, but you can still discern his features. He has a breathing tube down his throat, and a brace around his chest.

 

You clear your throat. “Hey, Egbert. Listen up. I know you can hear me. You're gonna be just fine, all right? When you wake up, we're gonna be here waiting for you.” Tears start to well up in your eyes, and you sniffle. “You just gotta wake up for us okay? I know you can do it, you're too stubborn not to. I promise we'll be here. I promise.” You're gripping his hand so tight, you're shaking. You feel a hand touch yours on the handlebar, and you look up at Dave.

 

“Yeah man, like Karkat says, we'll be here. Don't you worry about us.” He follows your lead in talking to him. “Love you, John.”

 

“Love you, John.” You echo. You let go of his hand to wipe your eyes. “We'll be back. Hope you're not too bored while we're gone.”

 

“See ya, Egbert.” You and Dave leave the room, John's heart monitor echoing in your ears.

 

Dave pulls out his phone. “Dirk says the car is ready for us.” He looks up at you. Ready to go home?”

 

You sigh, tiredly. “Yeah. Let's go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3
> 
> More coming soon!


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re not sure where you are. Everything is dark. You can't seem to move, and it feels like there's something sitting on your chest...and also...in it? You feel uneasy, panic is rising as you struggle to move but you can’t. Your heart starts pounding in your ears and you can’t focus, you’re all alone here, no one can help you but you can't move…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course I wouldn't just leave it there I'm not a heartless bastard. 
> 
> Anyway, this is a continuation of that fic and ALSO covers another day for johndavekat week: favorite au

_ You’re not sure where you are. Everything is dark. You can't seem to move, and it feels like there's something sitting on your chest...and also...in it? You feel uneasy, panic is rising as you struggle to move but you can’t. Your heart starts pounding in your ears and you can’t focus, you’re all alone here, no one can help you but you can't move… _

 

“Hey, Egbert.” _ Egbert? Is that you? Who is talking? _ “Listen up. I know you can hear me.” _ You stop trying to move and do as the voice says. You listen.  _ “You’re gonna be just fine, all right?”  _ You relax a little more. This person’s voice is soothing, reassuring. _ “When you wake up, we’re gonna be here waiting for you.”  _ You hear a sniffle. Oh no, are they crying? You try to move again, try to reach them, to comfort them, but nothing has changed. Your movements are still restricted. You feel a pressure on your hand, and then, _ “You just gotta wake up for us, okay?  I know you can do it, you're too stubborn not to.”  _ You’re straining to do something, to make a noise, squeeze their hand, but nothing happens. I promise we'll be here.  _ “I promise.”  _ The pressure on your hand is increasing. And it's silent for a bit.  _

 

_ Then, suddenly, there's a different voice. _ “Yeah man, like Karkat says, we'll be here. Don't you worry about us.”  _ They’re both so worried about you. You have to do something to let them know you’re here. _ “Love you, John.”

 

“Love you, John”  _ The first voice echoes the second. Fuck, they’re leaving? No, please don’t leave you can’t-  _  “We’ll be back. Hope you’re not too bored while we’re gone.”  _...You heard that right, right? They said they’ll be back.  _

 

“See ya, Egbert.”  _ The second voice says, and the pressure on your hand is gone. A wave of despair washes over you at the loss, and you hear a door open and close.  _

 

_ They’ll be back, you remind yourself. They’ll be back, they’ll be back, they’ll be- _

 

_ You chant those words over and over until the darkness envelops you, pulling you into unconsciousness.  _

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

The darkness surrounding you this time is different. It's not consuming, or crushing. It's not even as dark as it was before. To your great relief, you can twitch your fingers, scrunch your face up, and though you still have the weight on your chest, it's not suffocating. You move your head to the left, and light shines in your eyes, and an ache makes itself present in your throat, so you swallow hard. You take as deep a breath as you can and peel your eyes open. 

 

This was a mistake. 

 

The sunlight shines right into your eyes and you groan, tilting your head down away from the window, and you see someone tall, with pale hair, back to you, leaning on the end of your bed. They’re talking quietly with another, darker haired person who is sitting in one of the cushioned chairs in your room. You blink, then frown, and- _ oh gosh that was a bad idea… _ You close your eyes, your entire face is full of sharp pains. You groan again, and the talking stops. 

 

There's shuffling and then “...John?”

 

Your eyes crack open to meet a blank pair of shades, reflecting your own state in the lenses. You don't know how to respond, so you just look at the person. They're tall and lanky, and they’ve got freckles peppered all over their high cheekbones and, you blush a little.  _ Heh. They're so pretty.  _  You don't even realize it but your arm is already up and reaching, poking them in the face.

 

A pale eyebrow appears over the sunglasses, and they smirk, responding, “Well thanks, man. I always knew you were after me for my looks.” Oh. You said it out loud.

 

You aren’t sure how to respond, but your mouth is moving anyway. “Boop boop boop.” you poke them on both cheeks and their nose with each boop, then you giggle. “Your face is so soft…..”

 

“Well, that settles it then,” they mutter, then they turn back to the other person, who has gotten up and is leaning on some sort of...scooter? “He’s high as fuck, Kat.” 

 

Your eyebrows go up, and you giggle again. “Kat Kat Kitty Kat Kat-”

 

Kat looks at you for a moment, and you stop babbling and stare in wonder, their brown eyes are  _ beautiful, _ and snorts. “No fucking shit.” 

 

“Hey John?” the one worth the freckles is talking now. You look back to them obediently. “How are you feeling?” 

 

You reflexively try to frown, but then you remember, oh yeah it hurts to do that, don't do that. “Umm, sore?” They seem to accept that answer. 

 

Kat huffs. “I'm just glad you're awake, Egbert.” They move closer, sitting themselves on the edge of your bed, propping their leg, which you can now see has a cast on it, up on their scooter thingy. “You really had us freaked out for awhile.” 

 

You tilt your head to the side. “Why? What happened?” 

 

They both kinda just stare at you, then at each other. The one with freckles turns back to you worry their brows furrowed again,opening their mouth to say something, but they're interrupted by the door opening. 

 

“Ah, wonderful! He's awake!” It's a nurse. You suddenly realize that you're in a hospital. Oohhhhhhh that makes sense. “How are you feeling, dear?” 

 

“Sore.” You repeat. Why are you here again? You're obviously hurt...but how-

 

“Ma'am,” says freckles, interrupting your thoughts. You still don't know their name. “Is there uh. Any possibility of memory loss with his injuries?” 

 

“Hmmm?” She looks up from her clipboard at them, then back at you. “Is he experiencing any gaps in memory?”

 

“Well I don't think he remembers how he got here or how he got hurt.” Kat elaborates. “He also seems pretty high.” 

 

“Hmmm.” She says again, looking back at the clipboard. “He is on a high number of pain meds and, oh.” She looks amused. “They don't commonly use this one, but in some severe pain cases it  _ is _ cleared. It has a temporary side effect of memory loss and drowsiness. He should be fine as soon as it wears off, no need to worry.” She smiles. 

 

You brain is trying to process this, but you're still trying to figure something out. “Wait so….if I'm in the _ Hospital _ , then who are _ those two _ .” You point at them dramatically. “And why are you visiting me?” 

 

The nurse looks incredibly amused now. “Dave and Karkat are here because they were in the car crash that put you here too. They were both discharged a few days ago.” 

 

You look at them again. They're both doing this sorta half smile thing at you, and suddenly you can't breathe. You lean over a little bit towards the nurse and whisper, “They're really fucking hot. Can you see that?” 

 

She looks like she's trying not to laugh at you. Dammit, you're telling the truth! She's gotta believe you! You whisper again. “How are they doing that you said they were just in a car crash. That's not fair!”    
  


Her brow furrows, she looks confused. “How are they being hot?” The smile reappears, and she leans in close to you and whispers conspiratorially, “Maybe they like you just as much as you like them.” She winks, and you blush. You glance over at them and- _ shit.  _ They're both staring at you. 

 

The one with the shades (Dave???) is stifling their laughter, and next to them, Karkat (???) is full out grinning, their white teeth standing out in contrast to their dark skin. 

 

“Aww c’mon Egbert, don't tell me you don't  _ remember _ us!” Dave(?) says in a teasing tone.

 

“Uhhh,” you try and form some sort of intelligent response, when Karkat speaks up. 

“We're your boyfriends, numbnuts.” they say, rolling their eyes but still smiling. 

 

You feel your eyes bug out a little and you quickly look back to the nurse (ow, goddamn your HEAD) who isn't even trying to hide her giggles. 

 

You look back at the two of them. 

 

They both stare back at you, amusement still twinkling in their eyes. 

 

You blink. 

  
“Oh.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was inspired by one of those imagine your otp posts where one of them gets all drugged up on pain meds for one reason or another and forgets they're dating their SO.
> 
> Also this update was brought to you by the lovely commenter on the last chapter who finally motivated me to kick my butt into gear and finish up this chapter! Thanks dude this has been sitting half finished in my folder for too long lmao.


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